Sonographic measurement of placental volume: a comparative analysis of two-dimensional and three-dimensional sonographic techniques

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the correlation between a simple two-dimensional (2D) sonographic method and the gold-standard three-dimensional (3D) method for estimating placental volume during early to mid-pregnancy. METHODS: Placental volume was measured using both 2D and 3D ultrasound techniques in 58 pregnant patients between 11 and 22 weeks of gestation. All participants had normal term pregnancy outcomes. The correlation between the two methods was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: A strong positive correlation was observed between the 2D and 3D placental volume estimates (Pearson's r=0.93, p<0.001), indicating high agreement between the two measurement approaches. CONCLUSIONS: The simpler 2D sonographic method shows excellent correlation with the 3D gold-standard technique and may serve as a feasible alternative for placental volume assessment, particularly in low-resource settings where access to advanced equipment is limited.